Arts District

An arts district is a demarcated urban area, usually on the periphery of a city centre, intended to create a 'critical mass' of places of cultural consumption - such as art galleries, dance clubs, theatres, art cinemas, music venues, and public squares for performances. Such an area is usually encouraged by public policy-making and planning, but sometimes occurs spontaneously. It is associated with allied service-industry jobs like cafes, printers, fashion outlets, restaurants, and a variety of 'discreet services' (see the back-page small-ads of almost any cultural events-listings magazine).

There may also be some artists' studios located in nearby back-streets. But, as Richard Florida has found from his research, cultural production facilities are often better sited some miles away from cultural consumption facilities - except in some very tolerant cities and in countries where a boisterous alcohol-based nightlife scene does not lead to aggressive and anti-social behaviour.

In the UK the term sometimes used is "Cultural quarter" or "Arts quarter".

Notable arts districts in the USA include:

Arts District, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Arts District, Dallas, Texas
Arts District, Portland, Maine
Crossroads Arts District, Kansas City, Missouri
Cultural Center Historic District, Detroit, Michigan
Downtown Arts District, Las Vegas, Nevada
Gateway Arts District, Hyattsville/Mount Rainier/Brentwood/North Brentwood, Maryland
Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia
Noho Arts District, Los Angeles, California
Ray Street Arts District in North Park, San Diego, California
Pearl District, Portland, Oregon
Short North, Columbus, Ohio
Uptown, Oakland, California
Miller Beach Arts and Creative District, Gary, Indiana
NoBo Art District, Boulder, Colorado